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They
are more normally spotted off Land’s End or the Isles of Scilly, the
most south-westerly points of the UK, which they visit as they travel
between their breeding and feeding grounds.

A lucky group of eight nature lovers encountered the unexpected sight while they were on a marine wildlife tour.

Only a handful of giant leatherback turtles are spotted each year and so this sighting off Cornwall was a rare privilege

Yesterday
the ship’s captain Keith Leeves said: ‘It was fabulous, very exciting.
There are hardly more than two sightings a year recorded and I’ve never
seen one so close to land – it was a rare and wondrous event.

‘It was quite choppy water and no one could believe what they were seeing, but the turtle looked very happy to be there.’

And
Matt Slater, from Cornwall Wildlife Trust, described the sighting as
‘an enormous privilege’. He added: ‘They are brought in by their food
source, jellyfish, and the warmer temperatures at this time of year, but
it’s really unusual.

‘They
are amazing prehistoric creatures. They’re able to maintain a higher
body temperature, which allows them to swim in colder waters. The only
other reptiles capable of doing that were dinosaurs.’

Leatherbacks can also dive deeper than any other reptile – nearly a mile down – and stay underwater for up to 85 minutes.

However
numbers have declined rapidly over the past century, with the turtles
falling victim to fishing nets and choking on plastic bags that they
mistake for jellyfish.

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Giant leatherback turtle spotted as it makes rare appearance in British waters in the hunt for jellyfish